Taxi Driver Online

Quite a lot to take in here, but something doesn't smell right


Labour-run Birmingham City Council is under fire after £11M probe over eye-watering payments made to taxi firm charging more than £200 a day to take a child three miles to school and back

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... -back.html

EXCLUSIVE: Birmingham Council accused of overpaying taxi firms by £14m
Green Destinations charged £11m more than rivals for comparable levels of work
Do you have information on Birmingham City Council home to school transport contracts? Email oliver.price@mailonline.co.uk

Image: MailOnline

An unassuming office above a children's playschool in a Birmingham industrial park was at the centre of a multi-million pound investigation at Britain's biggest council.

The tiny premises is the listed base of operations of taxi firm Green Destinations Ltd, which will have billed Birmingham City Council an eye-watering £17million this year for ferrying children to and from school, analysis of documents leaked to MailOnline reveals.

Our investigation has uncovered that GDL, owned and run by Jameel Malik, are routinely paid around £200 a day - tens of thousands of pounds a year - to drive lone pupils just a few miles to school.

Included among the dozens of huge charges is a £230, three days a week charge, to drive a single child less than two miles each way to school in a wheelchair-accessible cab, around £65 per mile. A Hackney Carriage fare would be less than £15 a day.

Another example is a £210 a day, or £40,500 a year, fare to drive one pupil a little more than three miles each way.

The firm also charged £120 a day, nearly £23,000 a year, for a daily journey of just 1.5 miles each way for one pupil in a standard car.

The boss of rival cab firm HATS, which has similar contracts with the Labour-run authority, was more than surprised by figures which suggest GDL charge around £11million more per year than their competitors for a comparable service.

The number of routes operated by GDL in Birmingham has grown substantially since 2020 - and rose by more than a third between 2022 and 2023, leaked data suggests.

Allegations from a whistleblower that staff may have 'knowingly enabled or allowed overcharges to occur' spurred the more than £3billion-a-year authority to launch an internal investigation.

But the council has refused Freedom of Information requests from MailOnline for the investigation report, saying the 'information was given in confidence'.

Officers did however admit that there was a public interest argument to releasing the report as it concerned 'serious' issues of 'maladministration and misconduct by individuals, in the performance of Council business'.

This comes as the council faces turmoil after it was revealed it needs to find £100million to fix a 'failing' IT system - as the Labour leader was forced out.

Local authorities are legally required to provide pupils with transport to school in certain situations, often if they have a special need or disability, or if they live too far from an appropriate school.

Green Destinations Ltd has charged approximately £17million to run more than 450 home-to-school transport (H2ST) routes a year. But if their pricing mirrored that of nationally recognised competitors such as HATS, analysis suggests this cost could be closer to £6million - an £11million difference.

Birmingham City Council has repeatedly refused to engage when asked for comment on the accuracy of these figures.

The council claimed an internal audit found 'no evidence' that an employee or employees may have knowingly enabled or allowed overcharges to occur. But they have refused to release this report citing 'commercial sensitivity'.

When accounting for the number of pupils in a vehicle and route mileage, GDL, a large regional medical and H2ST transport firm, charges nearly three times more than their biggest competition, the data shows.

Another local firm, AFJ Ltd, also appears to be charging Birmingham Council far more than their competitors for their services.

They run more than 173 routes at a total cost of around £7million a year but analysis suggests that they charge nearly two times more than major competitors - amounting to approximately £3million a year.

Sources have told MailOnline that the council were made aware of higher amounts charged with GDL and AFJ's contracts by staff, but senior leadership have seemingly failed to act on those concerns for more than a year.

It has been claimed that staff who have raised these issues were routinely blocked from important meetings on H2ST contracts - and some of these people have been let go for seemingly unrelated reasons or decided to leave the organisation.

The officers who are directly responsible for arranging these H2ST contracts are still employed by BCC.

The data suggests that, aside from higher than usual prices on individual routes, a significant proportion of the money going to GDL and AFJ comes from the large proportion which have just one child in a vehicle - the most expensive way to transport pupils.

Half of the routes run by GDL are solo occupancy, which is by far the highest proportion of any H2ST in Birmingham. The firm runs more than 60 per cent of all solo H2ST routes in Birmingham.

More than a quarter of AFJ's routes in Birmingham, around 50 are solo occupancy routes, which is the second highest by some margin. This accounts for more than 10 per cent of this type of route.

But major competitors, including nationally reputable firm HATS Group, who have contracts for a significant number of routes in Birmingham run close to zero single-child home to school journeys.

HATS chairman Henry Bilinski has claimed that their firm has not been offered a fair opportunity to tender for lucrative solo-route contracts on this scale, which could be against public procurement laws.

He also said the company lost a significant chunk of their business a year after being brought in despite a pristine record.

But Birmingham Council claimed all contracts were 'tendered in accordance with the council's procurement processes and in a legally compliant manner'.

The group was brought in to run services at short notice in August 2021 after supplier North Birmingham Travel had their contract terminated after a scandal over poor welfare and compliance checks.

Despite issues with the outgoing supplier, HATS successfully redeployed more than 275 staff and procured 127 vehicles at a cost of nearly £3.2million. But the firm lost around half of their routes with BCC a year later.

Mr Bilinksi said: 'In August 2022 just prior to the commencement of the new Academic Year, HATS were informed that we had lost approximately 50% of the school routes - despite our excellent compliance record, up-front investment and, we believe based on 25 years industry experience, being very competitively priced.

'The award of this work is governed by strict legislation which includes statutory and regulatory compliance, quality thresholds and cost weighting. Birmingham City Council will be aware of this legislation, including the robust checks and balances, governance and due diligence requirements, of which this legislation has oversight

'Despite this, HATS has the capability and the desire to undertake contracts for solo H2S routes in Birmingham but we have not been given the opportunity, or it is our understanding that we were outbid by other providers. The winning provider's tender documentation should always be submitted in commercial confidence to BCC, so we would not have sight of another provider's route pricing.

When asked to comment on an example route run by Green Destinations, which cost nearly £100 per day to transport one pupil under six miles each way, Mr Bilinski said: 'We would have offered a much more competitive price. I want to deliver a service that is good value for money.

'Based on the information you've given me there's no way we would be charging this much.

He said: 'The local authority should retender out the routes.'

And staff who brought up the issues with GDL contracts were accused of unfairly targeting the firm by senior managers.

A Birmingham City Council spokesperson said: 'The city council's Internal Audit regularly carries out reviews across the organisation, and responded following an allegation that an employee or employees may have knowingly enabled or allowed overcharges to occur. The investigation found no evidence or indication of this.

'Route costs vary due to the type of vehicle required, journey distances and durations and number of students on each vehicle and their individual needs. Solo occupancy routes are often required due to the individual needs of the students; these routes are regularly reviewed and all students are supported to access shared transport where appropriate.

'Historically, a large number of contracts were procured at short notice and high cost due to the emergency procurement of North Birmingham Travel contracts to avoid substantial disruption to vulnerable Special Educational Needs Students' school attendance. However, a new procurement Framework is being launched to enable us to procure our contracts cost effectively.'

They said they could not provide a copy of the internal audit report as it contains 'commercially sensitive information'.

When specifically asked why Green Destinations and AFJ received the vast majority of solo routes between them, the spokesperson did not answer the question.

They said: 'Following NBT termination there was an emergency procurement which was awarded to HATS.

'There was also a further procurement exercise undertaken to provide temporary cover if needed during the mobilisation period for summer 2021. There was a poor response from the market, likely owing to the shortage of appropriate fleet/drivers etc. Green Destinations won this. Some solo routes may have gone to GDL via that mechanism.'

The spokesperson then claimed there was a 'healthy split of solo routes between providers' in May 2022. But leaked data shows and sources suggest this claim is open to question.

They said: 'Our records show that when an exercise was undertaken to review the number of solo routes in May 2022, there was a healthy split of solo routes between providers. The number of solo routes was high at that time owing to COVID restrictions which were being phased out around then, allowing us to begin merging pupils back onto shared transport.'

When pressed again on why Green Destinations had such a high number of solo routes compared to other providers, BCC again did not answer the question.

MailOnline understands that the council's internal review led to recommendations being made to senior leadership, but BCC did not disclose what these were when asked.

Responding to these three questions, the council instead said: 'Our first consideration when making arrangements for transport is always the needs of the children and young people accessing the service. All home to school transport contracts have been tendered in accordance with the council's procurement processes and in a legally compliant manner.

'These processes are regularly audited as part of a planned review process, as well as in response to any concerns raised. These reviews have found the award of transport contracts to be compliant with legal tendering practices.

'Contract prices will vary based on factors including the types of vehicle required for pupils' needs and the availability of operators in the market at that time.

'A small proportion of pupils receive one to one transport where this is necessary due to their needs. These solo routes are put out to tender and regularly reviewed.

'The council is moving to a new procurement framework for home to school transport later this year which will promote greater competition for transport routes and reduce contract prices.'

Green Destinations Ltd did not respond when contacted for comment by MailOnline.

AFJ Ltd were approached for comment but one had not been provided by time of publication.

Can you share any information on Birmingham City Council home to school transport contracts? Email oliver.price@mailonline.co.uk

Image: MailOnline

over the years the councils made the tendering process tougher and tougher to go through with the huge amounts of ducumentation needed to pre qualify etc. This has led to specialist operations like this who spend their time bidding for contracts and then sub contracting the work. The other problem is and this certainly happens in places like Lincolnshire, is that loads of these contracts are short term and temporary. They are arranged in a hurry and I have heard similar operations locally boasting that they get a call offering the job without the competitive tendering process being used.

So it's no surprise that the sums quoted are often eyewatering but are accepted without quibble. The system is open to some abuse and i'm sure the ones tabulated are probably in the latter category but the longer term jobs are almost certainly much more competitively priced.


Oh and by the way this sounds like a journo trying to get some dirt not an official inquiry so probe isn't really an accurate description is it ?

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

We have just been tendering for the next school year. There were loads of tenders out for our local schools requireing an 8 seat vehicle. Now there are only a couple of them available in the town. So I did put some sill prices in. Anyway the first one I won was for £80 per day and this was about right. However there were some much shorter runs that I had also tendered £80 per day on. I still won all of them. one was a run of about 3 miles to the school each way but as I had already accepted the first one I had to decline. Next this I here is that another firm in town was given the contract at £100 per day. The next one that was offered , the lady rand and said she expected me to turn it down and also said that the other firm would also have to turn it down. The same prices £80 and £100. The next price was over £120 and subsequent prices were even higher.
I have one contract that I have not heard about yet from last year. if they offer it back at the same price I am tempted to turn it down and then put in a higher price when it comes out to tender because most contracts aroung here have already gone so it could go for a lot higher price because it will be cars from 20 miles away from the job that I will be up against.

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Grandad,

Basically, you have multi-million pound budgets being controlled by minimum wage staff.

What could possibly go wrong?

_________________
IDFIMH

Fair point, but the 'probe' was really alluding to the council's own investigations, particularly the internal audit, although it's not really clear precisely what the council did in terms of a 'probe', and obviously they're keen to keep the whole thing close to their chest.

Interesting comments from Edders and Grandad about tendering etc. Which is kind of what I was thinking in terms of explaining some of the mega-sums mentioned in the article and the lack of open tendering. So it's maybe not as bad as it looks in the article, but who knows

Years ago Leeds City Council won a court case about charges for contract transport which concluded Hackney Carriages could only charge from the point of pick up to point of dropping off.

Who would have thought?

Senior Birmingham Council official in charge of overseeing city's school taxi drivers worked from same building as cab firm at centre of £11M over-pay probe during three years when it's annual profits rose 1,900% to £1.6M

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... -1-6M.html

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IDFIMH

The £64,938.27 question for bankrupt Birmingham Council: Why did all 163 school-run taxi contracts over the last three years cost EXACTLY the same? Authority faces new quiz over cab firm at centre of £11M over-payment row

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... t-row.html

Loads of ??????, and the Mail don't seem to be giving up on this.

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IDFIMH

Didn't read the article above, but I assume this in the Birmingham Mail is new stuff.

This stuff from the council's audit committee certainly sounds quite a compelling defence on paper, but who knows?


Taxi firm ‘charging £200 a day for three mile trip to take child to school’ as council launch probe

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/m ... l-27941041

'We can’t have transport not turning up and we can’t have transport not being reliable,' was the defence put forward by Sue Harrison, strategic director for children and families

A taxi firm is reportedly charging Birmingham’s cash-strapped council £200 a day to drive lone pupils to school just three miles from their home. It follows a report in the Daily Mail that detailed how Hockley-based cab firm Green Destinations Ltd have billed Birmingham City Council to the tune of £17 million this year to transport children to and from school.

A probe has now been launched into an alleged £11 million overpayment with regards the city council’s home-to-school transport service for children with disabilities and special needs. Latest figures show that Birmingham City Council is reportedly currently spending £19,409,323 on ferrying vulnerable children to school via private taxi companies, a rise compared to £12.7m for 2017/18.

At this week’s audit committee meeting at Birmingham City Council, councillors Meirion Jenkins (Conservative, Sutton Mere Green) and Shabrana Hussain (Labour, Sparkbrook & Balsall Heath East) hit out at the current costs. Coun Hussain said: “Are we trying to say £200 a day for three miles isn’t classed as fraud? So who’s investigating this?” Coun Jenkins also had questions. “It seems reasonable then to charge £200 a day to take a child three miles to school," he said. "That seems like a reasonable taxi fare?”

In an open letter to the committee, Coun Alex Yip (Conservative, Sutton Wylde Green) commented: “I have been informed with some considerable concern that a taxi company has been charging Birmingham City Council to the tune of £14m for home-to-school transport.

“For many years I have been raising repeated concerns, not just on the cost of taxis being used for home-to-school transport as one of the most inefficient ways to transport children, but how this contract was awarded. I now read in the national press that there may be some significant issues with payment and overpayment and questions raised over value for money.”

In response to the eye-watering costs of home-to-school transport, the city council’s cabinet member for children, young people and families, Coun Karen McCarthy (Labour, Bournbrook & Selly Park), said: “Care for our most profound and needed children is expensive, whether it’s the transport to get them to the right place for their education or whether it’s care in a variety of care settings.

“On home-to-school transport I’d like to remind members that, in September, we had our second year of actually getting - on the first few days of term - the right children to the right schools at the right time. On the busiest day that week, we had a 99.9 success rate. That is huge progress over the last couple of years.

“So, on one side of the coin is the success at delivery but the other is the one you’re interested in which is the costs. Internal audit shows that our processes are compliant.

“But I do need to remind members that the more expensive range of our services are those children with profound disabilities and very complicated medical needs that not only need a specific vehicle to get them to school, but also need someone with them throughout the journey on a one-to-one basis in case they have a medical incident during the journey.

“Those journeys can also be longer for those children with needs to get them to the right place and everything we do across children’s services is about getting the right child to the right place at the right time so that they thrive and get the very best of their childhood and education.”

When asked to explain the awarding of contracts to taxi firms, Sue Harrison, strategic director for children and families, said: “In 2021, a home-to-school transport contract with North Birmingham Travel was terminated at short notice due to a significant breach of contract relating to DBS checks and their drivers.

“An emergency procurement exercise was undertaken to cover the routes and that was approved by cabinet in August 2021. This had to be done as a one-year contract to enable us to deliver our statutory duties because we have to get children to school in September.

“The market knew we had to reprocure at short notice and, clearly, we aren’t going to get the best deals under those circumstances but we cannot say to children, ‘Sorry, you cannot go to school in September because you’re [transport] company is not appropriate and the replacements are too expensive so we can’t take you to school’.

“But we were very prudent to offer a one-year contract and we’re going to have to take the hit, whatever it is, to deliver our statutory duties. So we did.

“In 2021, HATS won the one-year contract at a significant premium due to the short notice. They mobilised very quickly to cover the routes so we did get those children to school.

“Green Destinations Ltd were then awarded a high number of routes, mainly for small vehicle contracts and one-person occupancy journeys because they were the best value for those particular lots. Another provider, AFJ, were also successful for contracts as they represented good value.

“HATS were unsuccessful because they were more expensive. Their specialism has always been larger vehicles and mini buses and we’re seeing an increase in children needing that solo transport route.

“Green Destinations Ltd is a high performing operator with a strong track record of feedback from parents and they’ve won all of their contracts on merit as they have been the cheapest and one of our best-performing operators.”

Ms Harrison added: “We can’t have transport not turning up and we can’t have transport not being reliable.”

The council-run home-to-school transport service currently supports 5,177 children and young people each day, with a further 200 students supported with Personal Transport Budgets. The current contract involving home-to-school transport will expire on October 31 as Birmingham City Council move to secure a better-value option heading into 2023/24.

And the consequences of this are

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdxl80q1v00o

Anger over pupil transport cuts

A mother whose son with Down's syndrome has been forced to stay at home due to school transport cuts said the most vulnerable in society were "paying the price for the mistakes of others".

Birmingham City Council is making more than £300m savings over two years after effectively declaring itself bankrupt a year ago.

As part of that, it has withdrawn free home-to-school transport for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) pupils over 16.

Sian, from Harborne, said her 16-year-old son Tom should have started back at school, but was stuck at home awaiting the result of an appeal after losing access to a minibus.

"This is very distressing for us all - especially Tom who can't understand why he can't go to school. He thinks his driver and chaperone don’t want to take him which breaks my heart," she said.

Initially, the Labour-run council offered the family a bus pass, but given his vulnerability, his mother said this was not an option as he could not travel alone.

Then it offered a personal budget of 45p per mile, minus the first three miles of each journey, if the parents also paid a £1,030 a year contribution.

However, as both Mrs Moxon and her husband work full-time, they are unable to transport him to and from school without help - in the past the council has also paid for his chaperone.

By law, local authorities have to provide home-to-school transport for eligible children aged five to 16 to take them to their nearest qualifying school.

While there is no legal duty on councils covering pupils over 16, many have continued to fund school transport for that age group.

Angela Palmer said she had been left with no way of getting her son Jake to school

Sian is one of several parents of SEND children to speak out about the impact of transport funding cuts.

Angela's 16-year-old son Jake is in a similar position.

He has lost the minibus that has taken him to school for the past two years.

Jake attends Oscott Manor, a specialist autistic school in Erdington, nine miles (14 km) from his home in Yardley Wood.

Angela, a single parent on a low income, has also been offered the same 45p per mile transport budget.

She does not drive, and for each £20 taxi journey for Jake to get to school, she would pay more than £17. It is a financial arrangement she simply cannot afford.

"I'm angry, I'm upset," she said. "They're not providing him an education."

One family from Northfield said they were having to dip into their retirement fund to ensure their son Alex could keep going to school.

Alex, 17, is also autistic and has ADHD, among other complex needs.

He attends Queen Alexandra College in Harborne, about four miles from his home and has received a council-funded taxi since he was eight years old. Not any more.


Sylvia is using savings to pay for taxis to get her son Alex to school

His mother Sylvia said: "Why is it always the vulnerable, the people who can't fight back? It's terrifying."

Alex is also worried, and said he feared having an anxiety attack if he had to use a public bus.

Fellow parent Keely said she understood the need to make cuts, but that it had to be done "fairly" and that her own experience of dealing with the council was like "talking to a brick wall".

"You're expecting children who've used this service for six years to suddenly have it taken away," she said.

Birmingham City Council said it had carried out an "extensive consultation process" and that parents had been made aware of the changes.

"The council has maintained a level of support that enables families to make their own arrangements and has been providing additional support to our most vulnerable students and families," a spokesperson said.

The local authority said in July it had to make a further £80m in savings in the next financial year, on top of the £300m over two years already announced.

The Children's, Young People and Families department needs to find £51.5m savings in the next financial year.

Angela is part of a Facebook group with 600 other people, detailing the plight of dozens of families appealing against the removal of their transport assistance.

She is calling on Birmingham City Council to reverse its policy, saying it it is a "lifeline" for Jake and other children.

"Without it, I can't see a future for him," she said.

Last month, another parent, Sabiha Aziz, took legal action to challenge the decision to remove her son Adam's transport. Following a review of her case, Birmingham City Council reinstated funding for a daily minibus to take him to school.

so if you can afford legal action you get your transport back otherwise...

and once Starmer ramps up fuel duty and road charging with contractors demanding higher prices to cover those costs how many councils will need to cut the school transport budget

maybe councils should consider a different strategy such as offering contracts at a fixed precalculated price perhaps to individual drivers rather than companies

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Not sure I know anyone who would agree to the above terms.

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IDFIMH